West Virginia Continues to Trust the Climb

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Coach Neal Brown and the West Virginia Mountaineers took a big leap forward in 2023 and are looking to continue the climb to the top of the Big 12 Conference. After being picked to finish last in the Big 12 for the 2023 season the Mountaineers finished 9-4 winning the Duke's Mayo Bowl against North Carolina.

This season the media has picked West Virginia to finish seventh, which is seen as too low by those in the Mountaineer program.

Is West Virginia Being Undervalued on Offense?

"We were the No. 1 Power Four rushing offense in the country last year, and we're picked seventh in the league," Brown said during the Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas "We are not in these preseason top 25, so there is a similar dynamic that works with this year's team, too."

Brown said he is paying attention to the attention his team is getting prior to the 2024 season. He said he uses it as bulletin board material to help motivate his team to prove the naysayers wrong.

"More importantly to me, on a personal level, our players are undervalued," Brown said. "(Quarterback) Garrett Greene is not getting talked about like some others and his production speaks for itself. Wyatt Milum, we feel he is as good or better than any offensive lineman in the country, and he's our starting left tackle. And I can go on and on."

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The returning production is high for the Mountaineers, especially on the offensive side with 89 percent of the offensive output returning good enough for third in college football. Not only are Green and Milum returning, so are running backs Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson.

The West Virginia offense is looking to play even faster this year with the introduction of helmet communication in college football.

Upcoming Schedule

The Mountaineers open the season at home with Penn State on Aug. 31. The rest of the nonconference schedule includes Albany on Sept. 7, and a road game at Pittsburgh for the Backyard Brawl on Sept. 14.

Their conference slate includes five home games, Kansas (Sept. 21), Iowa State (Oct. 12), Kansas State (Oct.19), Baylor (Nov. 16) and UCF (Nov. 23). With five home games they will only have to leave Milan-Puskar Stadium four times for games at Oklahoma State (Oct. 5), Arizona (Oct. 26), Cincinnati (Nov. 9) and finishing the season at Texas Tech (Nov. 30).